Five Christian girls have been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam just this month, according to a human rights group that monitors ongoing abuses of religious minorities in Pakistan.

"In April in the area of Kasur alone, five Christian girls were kidnapped and converted to Islam and forced to marry their captors. These girls are denied the legal protection of individual rights," said Sardar Mushtaq Gill, a lawyer with Legal Evangelical Association Development in Pakistan.

Fides News Agency reported Monday that the latest victim was 23-year-old Laveeza Bibi from the Kasur district in Punjab, who earlier this month was kidnapped by two Muslims who stormed her house armed with guns, kidnapping the girl and threatening her parents.

One of the abductors, identified by the name Muhammad Talib, reportedly forced Bibi to marry him and become a Muslim.

Response: Incredibly when the Christian parents go to the police and make out a complaint against the Muslim captors they are totally ignored and told that their daughters are now ‘legally’ married and have converted to Islam. The authorities not only refuse to do anything about it but actually commend and support the actions of the ‘kidnappers’ and rapists.

Just another example of how the laws are applied differently and justice rarely prevails if one is a Christian in Pakistan. Meanwhile the US State Department continues to ignore these obvious abuses against international human rights. *Top